The U.S. government lobotomized roughly 2,000 mentally ill veterans - and likely hundreds more - during and after World War II, according to a cache of forgotten memos, letters and government reports unearthed by The Wall Street Journal. | The VA’s use of lobotomy, in which doctors severed connections between parts of the brain then thought to control emotions, was known in medical circles in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and is occasionally cited in medical texts. But the VA’s practice, never widely publicized, long ago slipped from public view. Even the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it possesses no records detailing the creation and breadth of its lobotomy program. Between April 1, 1947, and Sept. 30, 1950, VA doctors lobotomized 1,464 veterans at 50 hospitals authorized to perform the surgery, according to agency documents rediscovered by the Journal. Scores of records from 22 of those hospitals list another 466 lobotomies performed outside that time period, bringing the total documented operations to 1,930. Gaps in the records suggest that hundreds of additional operations likely took place at other VA facilities. The vast majority of the patients were men, although some female veterans underwent VA lobotomies as well. Lobotomies faded from use after the first major antipsychotic drug, Thorazine, hit the market in the mid-1950s, revolutionizing [so-called] "mental health care".

The Wall Street Journal: The Lobotomy Files: Inside the Mind of Roman Tritz - Video

Index on Censorship claims European Union has also neglected to protect newspapers writing about mass surveillance. ● The European Union has failed to stand up for whistleblower Edward Snowden or properly defend newspapers that have written articles about the scale of mass state surveillance, according to freedom of expression group Index on Censorship. To mark the launch of a report on Thursday, Mike Harris, the organisation's head of advocacy, criticised the EU for failing to take a strong stance against the mass state surveillance revealed by Snowden and a range of other freedom of expression issues in Europe and elsewhere.

VoR: European parliament votes to formally invite Snowden to give testimony on NSA spying

New Zealand citizen stripped of phone, tablet, laptop and hard drive at New Zealand customs after returning from a talk in London about Edward Snowden's released documents. ● A Customs officer at Auckland International Airport took law graduate Sam Blackman's two smartphones, iPad, an external hard drive and laptop - and demanded his passwords. Mr Blackman, 27, who was breaking up travelling with his journalist fiance Imogen Crispe for a month back in New Zealand for Christmas, was initially given no reason why the gear was taken. The only possibility of why it occurred was his attendance - and tweeting - of a London meeting on mass surveillance sparked by the Snowden revelations, he said. However, a Customs official has since told him they were searching everything for objectionable material under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. Mr Blackman said he did not have anything of that nature and could not understand why he had been targeted.

Andre Damon: US Congress, White House to allow jobless benefits to expire for 1.3 million ■ In a display of cruelty and callousness, Congressional Democrats have made clear that they intend to allow federal extended jobless benefits for over a million long-term unemployed to expire at the end of the year. The elimination of unemployment benefits, which average about $300 a week, even as the Federal Reserve continues to hand tens of billions of dollars to the banks every month, and as corporate profits and the stock markets are soaring, is a clear example of the class interests defended by the entire state apparatus. Whatever the declamations of “partisan gridlock,” the Democrats and Republicans are united on the basic interests of the corporate and financial elite. The social consequences will be devastating.

Janet Yellen and Stan Fisher, both Jews.
Yellen, the current no. 2, will most likely
be the next Chairman as Ben Bernanke has
said he's not seeking another term.

While Bernanke may be about to leave; none other than his mentor and thesis adviser – former Bank of Israel chief Stanley Fischer is rumored to be in line for a new role. And so the circle of life is complete. So far, the White House has declined to comment, but we note Fischer has a reputation for beng more hawkish than most - evidenced by his refusal to engage in the kind of dovish activity the rest of the world did while in charge in Israel and is especially downbeat on forward guidance.

Zero Hedge: Former Hawkish Bank Of Israel Head Rumored To Be Next Fed Vice Chairman ● Dark-horse candidates include Stanley Fischer, an American citizen who recently stepped down as governor of the Bank of Israel, and Roger Ferguson, another former Fed vice chairman and now chief executive of TIAA-CREF, a not-for-profit financial-services company.

Israeli To Officially Take Over as Vice Chairman of the FED
For No. 2 at Fed, White House Favors Central Banker in the Bernanke Mold - New York Times

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Not happy with taking all your money, now they'll take your TV shows too...What's next? Officials: US shows critical of Israel. | The Israeli embassy said it's concerned about popular American TV show that depict the Jewish lobby's influence in America in a critical manner. 'Could lead to conspiracy theories about the Israeli and Jewish control of American politics'.

The IHEU Freedom of Thought Report 2013 has been published online today at its dedicated website. It is the first report focusing specifically on the rights, legal status, and discrimination against Humanists, atheists and the non-religious in every country in the world. The report found that:

• You can be put to death for expressing atheism in 13 countries
• In 39 countries the law mandates a prison sentence for blasphemy, including six western countries
• The non-religious are discriminated against, or outright persecuted, in most countries of the world

A new report launching today, Tuesday, examines every country in the world for legal discrimination and human rights violations which specifically affect atheists, humanists and the non-religious. The "Freedom of Thought" report by the International Humanist and Ethical Union, IHEU, found widespread discrimination by governments in every region. (Download the report here)

Two more men have been hanged, under a system where death row prisoners are not told of their execution until hours before. | Japan has carried out another round of "secret executions," bringing to eight the number of inmates sent to the gallows under the year-old administration of Shinzo Abe. Media reports said two men had been hanged in the fourth round of executions since Abe took office last December. Previous hangings took place in February, April and September, suggesting that the government plans to carry them out every few months. On Thursday, Mitsuo Fujishima, 55, was hanged for two murders in 1986, while Ryoji Kagayama, 63, had been convicted of killing two people in 2000 and 2008, media reports said. Japan has brushed aside calls by Amnesty and the European Union to abolish the death penalty, citing strong public support for the punishment.

Pro-EU protests in Kiev have been marked by western politicians’ regular visits to the protesters’ camp, and their emotional condemnations of Ukraine’s authorities. This is seen by some analysts as unprecedented meddling in a country’s internal affairs. US Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, handed out snacks on Wednesday to protesters on Kiev’s Independence Square (or ‘Maidan’ as it’s nicknamed), making those who witnessed the scene wonder if a reciprocal gesture would be imaginable during something like an Occupy Wall Street protest in New York.